Ne Me Lache Jamais
by Terraphim86
Summary: After a two month separation, Selene and Michael reunite and make a decision about their future. Takes place nine years after Underworld Evolution and immediately following the events of the anime Underworld Endless War, but before Underworld Awakening.


_A/N: For those who are still following my multi-chapter fic "The Unknown Chapter," please know that I have not abandoned it! I have actually started attacking it again with new zeal after seeing UNDERWORLD: AWAKENING. So please expect some edited and new chapters within the next few months! Thank you for your patience._

_SPOILERS: The story contains spoilers for the FIRST two films and the anime ENDLESS WAR (which was released with the new Blu-Ray). It mostly continues directly after ENDLESS WAR, but does not require having seen it. That said, the timeline according to ENDLESS WAR is this: that the beginning of AWAKENING takes place roughly nine years after the end of EVOLUTION, and implies that Selene and Michael have gone through long periods of separation for strategic and safety reasons._

**Ne Me Lache Jamais**

_Paris, 2012_

They'd inevitably found themselves back at his hotel room, dodging checkpoint police and prying eyes in the dark, late hours just before sunrise. Now they were alone, safe, uninterrupted. And silent. Michael had been looking at her intently since they had met on the rooftop.

He hadn't kissed her yet. They had not seen each other in two months, had only had a few, brief phone conversations. And yet, except for his arm slung loosely around her as they surveyed the city, he had not even touched her, but just continued to watch her like he was waiting for her to do something.

She'd briefly paused outside the door to the room to hang the _ne pas d__é__ranger _sign without asking him. Some things never needed to be said.

She took stock of the room once inside. Michael had been here for three days, waiting for her. The desk held a small laptop computer and his phone charger. In one corner was a bag, out of which stuck the sleeve of his favorite denim jacket. Another smaller bag next to it had been a gift from her, which she knew contained weapons that he rarely used but liked to have just in case. Two bags of blood lay on the bedside table, next to the remote control for the television and a French-English dictionary.

She put her own belongings down and turned to him. "Comfortable?"

Michael shrugged off his coat. "It's been nice, actually. The last place I stayed in was a dump. Worse than Zurich." He slung his coat over a chair and kicked his shoes off by his bag. He then turned back to her and gestured to the bedside table? "Are you hungry?"

She shook her head, staring at him. Why hadn't he touched her? It had been two months. Just having him in the room with her was making the slow ache of arousal begin to spread. She had been on edge for days, heat taking permanent residence in her belly, knowing she would see him soon. The last time they had met after a separation, and that time it had only been three weeks, he had been on her like a predator before they had even shut the door. But now he stayed on the other side of the room, watching her almost warily.

She walked toward him slowly, shedding her coat and dropping her gun on the desk. When she reached him, she took his face in her hands and stared into his eyes. He looked back at her, inscrutable and silent.

"What is it?" she asked, trying not to sound as concerned as she was beginning to feel.

Michael remained quiet a beat longer, weighing his words. "Nothing," he finally said, pushing the hair out of her face. "I just really missed you."

When she kissed him, he did kiss her back, with no hesitation. His arms curled around her, pulling tightly and momentarily lifting her booted feet off the ground. She pressed against him desperately, running her tongue across his lower lip, quietly moaning over the taste of him, and pulling up the hem of his shirt. He backed her towards the bed, making it so that she sat at the edge. He knelt to unbuckle her boots, while she worked to undo her corset and gauntlets.

When he stood, she pressed her mouth to his stomach, loosening his belt, nipping playfully at his hipbone and moving her hands into his pants. He jumped a little at that, which made her smile. Michael moved his hands to her neck, releasing the buckles of her collar and then unzipping her suit, crouching down to peel it away from her torso. He kissed her again and gently made for her to lie down, obligingly moving as he pulled the rest of her uniform from her. She traveled up to the pillows, watching him hungrily as he finished undressing and crawled into the bed, pulling her to him and kissing her until she was whimpering, while he softly moved his hands all over her. She rutted herself against him, needing him so desperately and getting only his teasing in return.

"_Damn it, Michael,_" she hissed, wrapping her legs around him tightly enough that, had he not been what he was, it probably would have dislocated his hips.

"What's your rush?" he asked, his voice low and heated. He jerked so that he was pressed against but not inside, and she lost her patience entirely. Angrily, she clamped her teeth on his collarbone and flipped them both over. Jaws still tight, she looked into his face. His eyes had gone black. He dug suddenly clawed fingers into her back and, finally, for the first time in months, he was pressing into her. When they were joined fully, Selene let out a sob of relief, relaxing her mouth around his broken skin and pushing herself up so that she was face-to-face with Michael. She stroked her hips against him and reveled in his hitched breath, bending down to kiss him deeply as they moved together. And then he was shifting them both, himself into a kneeling position, keeping her wrapped around him with his strong hands. With the new angle, each of his thrusts elicited a high whine to come from her throat. She was so close...

"Wait," he said breathlessly, pulling away so that he was only barely still inside her and using his hands to keep her still. She let out a protesting noise, but he shook his head. "Wait," he repeated.

"What's wrong?" she gasped, taking his face in her shaking hands.

"I don't want to split up anymore."

The statement caught her by surprise, but it was a conversation that they had had before. "Michael, it's safer this way for both us of if-"

"Bullshit," he barked out. "How are we safer if we're not looking out for each other?"

She didn't have an answer for that, and just looked into his determined face.

"I miss you _every day_," he continued, sweating with concentration. "Every goddamn day. And things are different now. The humans know about all of us. The rules have changed."

She shook her head, trying to think clearly. "Michael, listen..."

"No, _you_ listen." His voice took on a harsh edge. "No more separating. I won't do it. If you walk out that door, I'm following." His face took on a grin that hinted at the wolf beneath. "You know I can."

She wanted to say no, to say that they could talk about it later, but his eyes were still black and she knew that she could not change his mind on this.

"Promise me," he whispered, and then repeated it more insistently. "_Promise me._" His fingers moved between them, ghosting over sensitive flesh, making her gasp and mewl. "Selene."

She nodded helplessly, trying not to weep with the emotion and frustration pouring through her. "I promise," she breathed out, her voice higher than she intended. "No more splitting up. We'll stay together." And truly, she meant it.

At that, Michael thrust deeply into her again, swallowing her throaty cry with a kiss. He loosened his grip on her hips, which allowed her to writhe against him without restraint, pushing against her again and again. In less than a minute, they climaxed together. Selene breathed jerkily against his mouth, still holding his face between her hands, reveling in his warmth inside her, in the ache of his absence finally being completely gone. She wrapped her arms around him as their breathing slowed, wondering how she could have gone so long without this.

After a few moments, he pulled her down onto the bed with him, covering them both with a blanket. She curled up against him, breathing heavily into his skin, listening to his heart as it continued to pound. She had missed him _so_ much, more than she had been willing to let herself really acknowledge before this moment.

His hand moved up and down along her back, tracing her spine. "I love you."

She looked up at him, into eyes that were once again green. Even after nine years together, and with both of them very much aware of how the other felt, this was still something they rarely said.

But, like he'd said, the rules were changing.

"I love you, too."


End file.
